Coronavirus Ireland Latest Updates: 31 more deaths and 992 cases, including backlog tests from German lab

Keep informed of these unprecedented times with the latest coronavirus updates on Independent.ie's live blog.

19:30 13/08/2020

Coronavirus death toll tops 10,000 in New York

New York’s death toll from coronavirus has topped 10,000, with hospitals still seeing 2,000 new patients a day, Governor Andrew Cuomo has said.

The state tallied 671 new deaths on Sunday – the first time in a week the daily toll dipped below 700.

The governor noted people are still dying at a “horrific level of pain and grief and sorrow”.

18:30 13/04/2020

Breakdown of latest cases

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been informed that 31 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ireland have died. The breakdown of figures is as follow:

• 26 deaths located in the east, 3 in the north west, 1 in the south and 1 in the west of the country
• The deaths included 18 females and 13 males
• The median age of today’s reported deaths is 82
• 25 people were reported as having underlying health conditions

There have now been 365 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. A summary of all 365 deaths provided by the HPSC shows that:

• 215 (59pc) of those who died were male, 150 (41pc) were female
• The median age of those who died is 82
• 247 of these cases were admitted to hospital with 37 admitted to ICU

17:35 13/04/2020

992 new Irish cases of Covid-19 registered as 31 more people die from the virus

A further 31 patients in Ireland have died after contracting the coronavirus.

It brings the total number of deaths associated with Covid-19 here to 365.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, confirmed another 992 cases of the virus in Ireland, 527 diagnosed here and 465 older tests from Germany.

So far 10,647 people have been confirmed to have Covid-19.

It brings the total on the island of Ireland to 12,529 cases and 483 related deaths.

15:50 13/04/2020

Almost 100 people who were positive for coronavirus received a wrong text telling them they were negative

A large group of people who were positive for the coronavirus were incorrectly contacted by text over the weekend and told they were negative, it was confirmed today.

HSE chief Paul Reid told morning briefing that the issue was brought to his attention and he was investigation it.

The HSE has since confirmed that on Saturday “less than 100 people “had been advised, in error, that their test did not detect COVI19. On review these patients were, in fact, positive for Covid 19.

15:14 13/04/2020

Six more hospital deaths in Northern Ireland with 76 new cases of Covid-19

A further six patients in Northern Ireland have died after contracting coronavirus, it has been confirmed.

It brings the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the province to 124. These deaths only relate to patients who have died in hospital.

The Public Health Agency announced that a further 76 cases have been confirmed as of 9.15am. This brings the total number of infections to 1,882. Some 12,633 people have been tested for the virus in Northern Ireland.

12:40 13/04/2020

More than 120 Covid-19 patients in ICU

Ann O'Connor, HSE chief operations officer, said 128 referrals have been made to the City West isolation unit to date, which currently has 69 residents.

A sum of 862 Covid-19 patients are in the care of acute hospitals as of 8 pm last night, an increase of 8.5 pc on the previous week.

Over 2,000 beds are available in our acute hospitals.

275 people are in ICU's across the country - 148 people admitted with Covid-19, and 127 are non-Covid-19 related patients.

12:40 13/04/2020

Second order of PPE valued at €67m to be ordered this week

Mr Reid said Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) sent by chinese resources that were not up to standard has been revised and is currently going through tests.

A second batch of PPE will be ordered on April 17 at the value of €67m and will covers a range of items including, gowns, gloves, facial respiratory masks, and goggles.

11:50 13/04/2020

Covid-19 test backlog to be cleared this week

At a HSE briefing this morning, Mr Reid said that a total of 7,903 backlogged Covid-19 tests were completed by last Saturday, while a total of 72,000 Coronvirus tests have been completed since the outbreak began.

He said there are now 11,000 backlogged tests but the health service is working to clear it by the end of this week.

Mr Reid said 80pc of the tests will be carried out in German laboratories and 20pc will be carried out in Irish labs.

He said Irish labs have the capacity to carry out an average of 2,800 daily tests but that number is expected to fall as the backlog clears.

The turnaround time for completed tests in hospitals is currently between 24 and 36 hours but community tests are experiencing a longer delay.

Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland

He added that the HSE is on average receiving around 220 to visits to its website each day.

That figure did peak one day with over 850,000 at the start of the process.

The HSE has received around 35,000 calls at peak to its live line across its seven centers. and had 700,000 contacts through social media.

It is now at a demand level of around 1,200 calls per day over the past week.

09:06 13/04/2020

Countries facing pressure to loosen coronavirus restrictions

South Korean officials have warned that hard-earned progress fighting the coronavirus pandemic could be hit by new infections at bars and leisure spots, highlighting global tensions between governments keen to maintain social distancing and citizens eager to resume their lives as economic pressure mounts.

Some European nations have started tentative moves to ease their shutdowns. Hard-hit Spain, which on Sunday reported its lowest daily growth in infections for three weeks, allowed workers in some non-essential industries to return to factories and construction sites on Monday.

South Korea’s caseload has slowed from early March, when it was reporting around 500 new cases a day, but officials have warned of a broader “quiet spread”, pointing to transmissions at locations such as bars that may indicate eased attitudes towards social distancing.

07:20 13/04/2020

Unemployment rate may reach all-time high of 26pc this month

The unemployment rate is set to reach an all-time high this month as the coronavirus continues to wreak economic havoc, it has been warned.

Economist at Goodbody stockbrokers Dermot O'Leary said official figures to be released next month are likely to show that the portion of the labour force out of work in April climbed to up to 26pc.

The highest point it has ever reached was 17.3pc in 1985, while the peak during the recession was 16pc.

Figures released last week showed the unemployment rate has already reached 16.5pc when those unemployed as a result of the virus are included.

Although many hope that the current lay-offs will be temporary and people will return to work when the crisis ends, there are fears that some companies may not reopen.

07:00 13/04/2020

14 more deaths related to Covid-19 in Ireland confirmed bringing total to 334

14 more people diagnosed with Covid-19 in Ireland have died.

A further 430 new cases have been reported by Irish laboratories, as well as an additional 297 confirmed cases reported by a laboratory in Germany.

The breakdown of the deaths are as follows:

• 12 deaths located in the east, 2 in the west of the country
• The latest deaths included 6 females and 8 males
• The median age of today’s reported deaths is 80
• 10 people were reported as having underlying health conditions

With the latest German figures included, there are now a total of 9,655 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

7:00 12/04/2020

Ireland hopes to reach goal of 15,000 tests a day by end of next week

The chair of the Covid-19 expert advisory group has said that Ireland will increase its coronavirus testing to 15,000 a day “probably” by the end of next week.

Dr Cillian De Gascun, a consultant virologist and director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL), said it is expected between 5,000 to 7,000 people a day will be tested this week.

The Government’s goal is to dramatically increase its testing over the coming weeks and to turn around a test within 48 hours.

Ireland has been facing several challenges as it tries to increase capacity and clear its backlog of tests.